The Looking Glass Anthology - Wanderers

Northern Ireland Screen invited four artists to respond to the films within the Digital Film Archive. The Looking Glass Anthology is a collection of beautiful works by a range of musicians and poets that capture what the archives mean to them on a personal level.  

Rachael Boyd creates beautiful post-classical work. A talented multi-instrumentalist, from Belfast and based in Dublin, Rachael uses her gift to make music that tells stories, exploring universal themes with sympathy and emotion. 

Here, Rachael has looked at the difficult relationship between the Travellers and local residents in mid-60s Northern Ireland. It is a painful story of ignorance and fear exposed through bigotry. The footage is both poignant and upsetting and Rachael’s music humanises the experience of the much maligned and marginalised Traveller community.

Rachael spoke to her experience on the project -

'I really enjoyed composing the Wanderers piece for Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive and being able to pair it with archival footage from my home city. It was a thoroughly immersive and thought provoking project, and I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to collaborate' 

Watch the other pieces in the Anthology here